Kevin Lynch remembered
The sixteenth commemoration for hunger striker Kevin Lynch was
held in Dungiven on 3 August with a crowd of over two hundred
people present.
Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle member Jim Gibney gave the oration. He
paid tribute to the sacrifices made by the hunger strikers and
their families, who endured a ``living nightmare, one of the
darkest years in the history of our struggle for our freedom and
independence.''
In his address Gibney appealled to unionists to join
constructively in the talks process. He stressed the need for the
second IRA cessation to seen as a serious move for peace. ``When
we sit across from the British government and directly challenge
their claim over this part of Ireland, this will be the first
time since 1920 they have faced such a prospect,'' he said.
Gibney then urged the unionist leadership to ``escape the cycle of
conflict, open your minds to the possibilities created by this
new situation. Republicans are determined not to allow the past
to paralyse us from talking for the future, and that includes the
unionist people. It is time to end the hostility.''
Wreaths were laid at the commemoration on behalf of the Kevin
Lynch Memorial Flute Band, South Derry Martyrs Flute Band, and
Carlon/Kilmartin Sinn Fein.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)